Nikolay Ivanovich Turgenev

Nikolay Ivanovich Turgenev, (born Oct. 23 [Oct. 12, Old Style], 1789, Simbirsk [now Ulyanovsk], Russia—died Nov. 10 [Oct. 29], 1871, Paris) Russian government official and economist who was a cofounder of the revolutionary Northern Society, which staged the Decembrist uprising of 1825 in St. Petersburg.

Born into the middle class, Turgenev was one of a number of Russian youths infected by the liberal spirit that emerged in Europe after the French Revolution. He belonged to the Union of Welfare, a reformist society, many of whose members eventually came to advocate the overthrow of the autocracy. In 1821 the group formally disbanded but ... (100 of 205 words)